somewhere on this vast Web where a feller could go to "register" his original words, phrases, ideas as with the Patent Office. Dunno if even a vigorous search could truly prove someone is the actual author unless all the now-defunct sites and everything ever published online is somehow preserved somewhere.

is unequivocally yours, and by rights, you should be given credit for it every time it's used by somebody else. (If you only had a nickel for every time!)

But "madman theory of bargaining" not so much. For anybody who's even minimally studied game theory, as you have, I think, it's really just a descriptor of one of the core tenets.

Don't know whether I've used that precise phrase, but I've been citing it since I first read about it in a college course in somethingorother because it was such a eureka moment for me and has continued to explain so much of how all this works my entire life. Nixon indeed.

writings were incisive and interesting. In many ways, he was also the best NYT feminist, which was a part of his commitment to human equality. I sure hope Joe Nocera is not to be considered his replacement. Nocera compared Tea Party Republicans, in a recent column, to terrorists and after criticism, today he apologized, pledging that in the future he will not be calling anybody names. In my view, that is not calling names, but rather, calling out actions and fears.

Long before the movie "10" a friend and I sat at the main bar at the old Atlanta airport and developed the rating of young ladies.

It spread among those within our circle, but alas there was no Internet and certainly no way we could establish ownership. Although, some years later, we were known to drink adult beverages and grouch about our lack of recognition.

Sexist? Yes. But I plead the influence of booze, youth and the absolute pleasure of seeing beautiful women walk by.

Whatever, fascinating universe out there, a little more so than I'd suspected in my youth during the Space Race Age. Extra dimensions beyond the 3 we see -- a lot more plausible to me today. As that famous Brit scientist once said, The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it's stranger than we can imagine.

I knew he had coined that. I'm very unappreciative of BTD though. I did not know that he coined 11th Dimensional Chess. God knows I've seen it all over the place though, but here first. I see most things here first though because this is the first place I read at.

Most likely it was just the baby Jebus whispering sweet nothings in his ear.

The Orton (an Iowa boy, BTW--even if he is a traitor for going to Purdue) to Miami deal was pretty much done but fell through at the last minute for whatever reason. It was certainly the common perception around here that he would be given the keys to the franchise upon completion of that deal.

I highly doubt the Donkey's management ever made him any promises though--after all, they didn't draft him and Elway has made it pretty clear he is a "project".

are by far the most incisive, but Atrios I think really wins the prize for coining by far the largest number of terms and phrases that have become common parlance on the leftish blogosphere.
They tend to be small but amusing things that make us all feel part of a larger community-- much as portions of us loathe other portions of us!

from Harry Reid might mean to the outcome of Cat Food CommissionII. The first two guesses don't count.

There has already been wrangling over who is going to be put on this committee. Reid said the downgrade made it even more imperative that party leaders do not appoint "hardliners who have already ruled out the balanced approach that the markets and ratings agencies like S&P are demanding." Carney echoed this, saying that over the coming weeks the President will encourage the committee "to put our common commitment to a stronger recovery... above our political and ideological differences." link

I know that Jeff and MT both reside in Alabama, although I do not know exactly where in Alabama. Nonetheless, I'm guessing they are both very hot. I just read that the heat index value in Mobile yesterday was 120 degrees F.

How can anyone breathe in that heat? And is there any water left in the entire state? I know Texas has almost no water left anywhere. Have the utility companies started rolling blackouts yet?

It is sunny and 80 degrees F here in Portland. Please feel free to come for a visit. I don't know how the good people of the southeast are surviving this year's summer weather.

really spoiled me. If the price tag says $5.95, then $5.95 is all you pay. No need to try to figure out the 6% or 8% or whatever the sales tax is.

In addition to the school supply weekend tax holiday, are there other such tax reprieves? Like a buy all the Thanksgiving fixins day? Or stock up on OTC medicines day?

Having a Skype connection to the wee lad is a good thing. I'd like to set up something similar with my mom, but she refuses to learn anything about computers. She insists that my sister and I provide all the internet access she desires. When she wants some bit of information, Mom calls me up and and asks me to do the research for her.

About that built-in camera on the new laptop-- since we now know that your computer can be hijacked remotely and turned on, I have read in many places that the safe thing is to put a piece of dark tape or a bandaid or, in my case a dark post-it, over the camera when you are not using it. Yeah, they can still control your laptop, but they can't get any pictures of you while they are at it.

I don't know if the covering the camera thing helps or not, but I have read that bit of advice on just about everything I've come across on internet safety.

kinda my 'normal' summer weather now :) We do hit the low 80's, with that same light bay breeze for our warm spells :) I've had my eye on the temps elsewhere also. Thanking my lucky stars I thought to check weather averages before I moved anywhere, I'm sooo over heat and humidity. And snow/wind chills/ice.

in DFW. Long range forecast has us on course to beat the 1980 all time record of 42 days straight. Average summer temp was tied for the record of 89.5 degrees as of a couple days ago.
We are setting records for peak electrical use but the grid has held out so far...

but the ancient greeks beat you to the "madman theory" by a few thousand years. of course, in those days, politics was literally a blood sport, and madmen really were mad men, not like today's namby-pambies.

coin. Sorry, just isn't my thing. I always read you because your ideas are well thought out and you offer and debate solutions. No navel gazing hour with martinis and Hors d'oeuvre with you, just not my thing either.